30 November 2007

think about what you read

It goes without saying authors should read--a lot. I decided to follow Mr. Silverberg's lead and reread some Heinlein (see below or the Dec 2007 Asimov's editorial). I recently started rereading To Sail Beyond the Sunset, by Robert A. Heinlein (1987). Imagine my surprise when he starts with the protagonist waking up in bed! Ugh (see the 'don't start with a cliche' post below)! Cliches aside, I have to say chapter one was pretty charming. The first paragraph was:I woke up in bed with a man and a cat. The man was a stranger; the cat was not.Some other highlights: He was quite dead. This is not a good way to start the day.And my favorite line: I found that I was barefooted all the way up. Sadly, chapter two was a huge chunk of exposition in which the author basically gives us a (his?) philosophy of life. I'll let you know how the rest turns out. Anyone have any opinions on this book?

I also recently read a novella Tendeleo's Story by Ian McDonald. This was excellent! It involves an unusual alien invasion and the nature of humanity. It was all good; I can't even come up with any constructive criticism. :)

As for To Sail Beyond the Sunset, it was definitely interesting. I didn't recall it had so much sex emphasis. I really enjoyed the timeline stuff. I'm not sure Heinlein writes female all that well (at least in this book).